Method of and means for collecting magnetic materials and separating them from othermaterials



May l2, 1931. J. N. MccRcKr-:N

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR COLLECTING MAGNETIC MATERIALS AND SEPARATING THEM FROM OTHER MATERIALS Filed May 16. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l n, N m T T A ay 12,1931. .1. N. MCCRACKE METHOD OF AN AND SEPARAT Filed May 16. 1928 N D MEANS FOR COLLECTING MAGNETIC MATERIALS ING THEM FROM OTHER MATERIALS IN VEN TOR.

A TTORN e Jarras N. Meenemen,

Patented May 12, 1931 iran lSTATES PATENT orsi-cr.

METHOD vor Ann Means ron Application filed Mayl, 192.8. Serial No.` 278,569.

This invention :relates to .a means and a method tcre'lectingthe separation of magnetic sands'or other magnetic substanceafrom non-magnetic sandsy orv substances,and it is especially applicable tolmining, where itis black sand, are accnmulated'from the conshiiee'v box, through glomerate andare automatically elevatedand Y discharged from the'lmagnets-while thev latter are cle-energized.

fG'ne object-of this invention.is,ltheretore,

to provide suitable meansforenergizing the magnets while 'they are `submerged in the stream or-sluice' and for V'de-energizing'the magnets 'after' the accumulation of the mag# netic .i aterials 'thereon' so thatzthe materials may he discharged Yfrom the streamer sluice and` may be disposed of for vfurther use.

Anotherobject of my invention is topro vide a lmachine adaptedLto"be mounted Ona which the j ore isr conveyed bya stream of water or `loy'sorne other means, and 'including a plurality of' electromagnets mounted at intervals on a co'nveyer and arranged 'so' as to be submerged, an'dto travel, in aL sluice boX in the direction of the iiow of water, but at. a `slower speed, so that e the black sand washed down through the box by means of the water will be attracted bythe magnets and that large vquantities of thesand willbecollected on the magnets and wills subsequently bel elevated toa Ipoint above the lstream ot water and `will inallybe discharged for further treatment.

Gther objects are to include means for energizing the magnets during a major portion of each cycle of operatiomand for de-energizing the magnetsduring certainj. .intervals in order f vFigure .4:

COLLECTING Macherio MATERIALS AND sn'rn'mirme Tania-sacar cerisier.. :maremains'` l to discharge the accumulate'disan'd :from the magnets. v y Y f A. further obj ect of the inventionisf-to provide liquide-tight enclosures yfor the wiriiigs of the lelectro-magnets :and thereby to assure.

afsatistactory operationiotthe machine.

- l Other objects may 'appearvas ythe description progresses.

.In the accompanying drawings, Ishow a Y practical embodiment of' myl'inver'tionifor y carrying out the above :objectsfandfin these y drawings, l l

'Figure is a perspective view ofthe'as'sem'- bledk machine `mounted 1in an operative posi# tion on a'sluice boX'; i 1 Figure 2 is a cross section ot` one iofjthefelectro-magnets and ineansjior` voperahly supportsv ing it'in'its operative'position; f

, Figure 'Sis `a fragmentary .enlarged section of one offa'plurality of resilient cont`a'cts,'by means of which an electric currentisitrans mitted to the electro-magnets';` Y'

is aV transverse sectionalelevation on line l-l oFigure 1;' and Figures 5 and 6 areperspective vievvs,f.partially broken away, otYK circularan'd'oblong lforms ofielectro-inagnets. i f The'complete'machinm as shown in Figure l, is mounted on asluice hex or Humal?, which has abottoin liandsides 2. I'IlheE machine includes aframe having' ateach of its'corners a preferaoly channeledleg L, and each ,ofthe legs is provided with a foot 3 fadapted'to be boltedtothe respective side 2j of the sluice box bymeans of bolts or screwsy il. The leg-STLr at eachsidel of the iframe are connectedby means of a channeled rail kR at the bottom and' a similar -rail R at the top of the frame.

are v#adapted to `press w th their-innere ends against the bearing blocks 7 so as to lock the latter within the yokes and thus to hold the shaft 9 in parallelism with, and ata desired distance from, the shaft 6.

The'shaft 6 has fixed thereon by suitable means a pair of large sprocket wheels S within the frame of the machine, and the shaft 9 hasixed thereon a pair of similar sprocket Wheels S so that the latter sprocket wheels respectively are in alinement with the former. The wheels S and S at each side of the machine are connected by endless belts or sprocket chains 11, which together constitute a conveyer and are adjusted to their proper tension over the wheels in accordance with the adjustment of the shaft 9 relative to the shaft 6 by the screws 10.

A transverse plate P, connecting the upper rails R with each other,`has mounted on its top a motor M provided with a shaft m, which extends from the motor outside of one of the legs L and has on this extension fined a pinion D, and a countershaft 12 is rotatably mounted on the respective leg `L and has on it fixed a gear d so that the latter meshes with th-e pinion D and is adapted to be driven thereby.

e countershaft 12 has also a pinion@ fixed thereon outside of the gear d, and the shaft 6 has fixed thereon a gear g which meshes with the pinion G. Thus, when the motor M is in operation, the shaft 6 is caused to rotate at ay reduced rate ofy speed in order to effect a proper traveling speed of the chains 11 of the conveyer over the sprocket wheels S and S', and thereby to assure a successful operation of the machine.

Preferably the chains 11 of the conveyer are supported on tracks 13, attached to the rails R by brackets 14.' As shown in Fig. 1, these trac rs may also be provided with antifriction rollers 15,'over which the chains run, the tracks and the rollers being suitably arranged so as to carry the chains with a minimum amount of friction and wear.

At regularly spaced portions the chains 11 are provided with a plurality of bearing links 16, the links on one of the chains being directly opposite to the respective links on the other chain, and in each pair of opposite links is a tube 17 loosely journaled Each of Vthe tubes `17 supports an electro-magnet E, which is enclosed in a metallic body 18 of suitable cross section and is provided with an annular or oblong recess 19, in which is mounted a coil of insulated wire W; These coils of Wire are taped, as shown at 20, so as to insulate them completely fromthe bodies 18, and the coils are removably held in the respective bodies 18 by non-magnetic plates 21, whichl are removably attached to the bodies 18 by means of a plurality of screws 22.

, The means by which each tube 17 supports the respective body v18 includes a pair of tubes 23, each of which is at one end secured to the respective body 18 and is at its other end secured to the stem of a T 24, the heads of the Ts encompassing, and being suitably fixed to, the respective tubes 17, so that, on account of the pivotal connection of the tubes 17 with the bearing links 16, the bodies 18 always are pendent from the links. One terminal 25 of each wire coil W extends through the respective body 18 and through one of the tubes 23 therefor into the respective supporting tube 17 and toward the near end ofthe latter, while the terminal 26 of the coil eX- tends through the body and through the other tube 23 therefor into the supporting tube and toward the other end thereof, as shown in detail in Fig. 2, and the terminals are respectively attached to contact devices C, shown in detail in Fig. 3. By this construction the bodies 18, together with the plates 21 and the tubes 23 and 17, constitute liquid-tight enclosures for the wirings of the respective electro-magnets E.

Each of these contact devices includes a ferrule 27, which is adapted to be screwed upon either end of any of the tubes 17, and has reciprocatively'mounted therein a stem 28, and a contact tip 29 preferably hasa screw connection with the outer end of the stem 28, and is connected by soldering or some other suitable means with the respective wire terminal 25 or 26. l/Vithin each ferrule 27 the stem 28 is provided with a head 30, and between this'head and the end of the respective tube 17 a coiled spring 31 is held in compression. rlhus each spring 31 serves to hold the respective head 3() outwardly against the inwardly` turned end 32 of the respective stem 28 extending through the end 32 of the ferrule.

The contact tips 29 are adapted to frictionally engage bus-bars B, which are attached to the rails R and R by brackets 35, and have lower horizontal portions 36, curved end portions 37, and upper horizontal portions 38 so arranged that the horizontal portions 36 and 38 of the bus-bars respectively are in the plane of movement of the contact devices@ and that therefore,'when the chains 11 are moving horizontally at the top and thebott-om of the machine, the tips 29 respecferrule 27, t-he an opening 33 in tively engage these portions of the bars, while .f i

the curved portions 37 at the ends are respectively concentric with the axes of the shafts 6 and 9, so that, when the contacts C are moved over the sprocketl wheels S and S', the tips 29 remain in contact with the bars B.

It should be noted, however, that at the top 'A of the machine the horizontal portions 38 of the bars are substantially spaced apart, so that, during a considerable period of the travel of the electro-magnets E, the magnets are cle-energized, while, during the remaining period of the travel throughout the length of the bus-bars B, the magnets are energized, as hereinafter described. Gf course, the'bars B, as shown in Fig. 1, arey insulated from 'the trame-of themachine' means. otinsulating vblocks 39ota suitablesize-and character.

At 'the front end of the machine, as shown in Yliig; l, two wires 41 and 42 ot an electric supply system are connected, respectively, with terminals 43 and 44, whichareat opposite sides ofthe machine, and are-mounted on brackets 45and 46', respectively, and the brackets lare secured 'attheir lower ends to thefbars'B and are insulated from a transver-se ramefmember 47 vbymeans ofinsulating blocks-48 and 49. The wire 42 is entendeL throughv an insulating vtube 50, suitably mounted lon-'the transverse memberv 47, vas shown. f y

Thusan electric current is conducted tothe bus-'bars IB,"so that, 'When'the machine is-in operation' and the electro-magnets are thereby moved, andwhen the contacts C at the ends of the tubes `17 frictionally engage the bars,

the respective coils W are energized bybeing connected with Ythe two poles oit thecir'cuit,y

and *the magnets E, in which the coils are respectively mounted, are thereby connected'l inmultiple withVthe'circuit. y "It will be noted, by reference to Figs. l and 4, that 'the electro-magnets E, while'offthe Y same character and general size, are arranged sothat each magnet is at an angle/to the adjacent magnets; that'is, the magnets are preterably grouped so as to be Aalternately in a horizontalposition and alternately in a vert-ical position, and the length of each body-'18 and the'spacing loft the body Vfrom the sides 2 ofthe `sluice of iume'F are `such that the body, during its travel with the convey'er" chains il, hasa sufficient clearance between the sprocket wheels S or; S.

The upper portion of the machinebetween thepai'rs ofsprocket wheels S and S is pro vided with afhopper H, which is open at' its top-'and ends so as to permitvthe movement the Aconveyer chains i1, fthe electro-magnets E and their conveyer connections longitudiv p Y n l 1 carryout my improved method of collecting nallythrough t e hopper, and the hopper is provided with a 'discharge 'spout h, Vwhich extends transversely downwardly on an `inclined Iplane through anopening inthe side ot the machine, as shown iniFig'. 4,-tor the purpose hereinaftery described.

ln operation, with the machine'mounted on a sluice box or vnume and arranged,inv a proper position sothat the electro-magnets E,'during their travel through the sluice box, are slightlyabove the bottom lthereot, the sand and gravel. which isY washed down through the inclined flume is collected :by magnetic attraction upon the bodiesr18 ot the magnets E and is'drawn through the water in the box for thelength of the machine, and is thence elevated over -the'sproclret wheels `Sand carried'to a point centrally :betweenithefendsmf .the machine, it being assumed that the-magnets travel'fin the dii-ece 'tionv Vindicated by the dotted-'line a'rrows -in Fie. l. Y. s each of the electro-magnets moves intoposition over the hopper Hythe contacts y vserve Vmainly tofcol-lect thesand'which iis in suspension in the Water, so that suchparticles otsand asare not in a-position'for collection by a magnet in one group will be 'collected by afmagnet in the other group. In this connection, it may be noted that the vdirection of the movement of the electro-magnets E through the flume corresponds to the pdif lrectio'n Vof the movement of lthe water lorlr'n aterialy throu gh the' t1ume,b`ut the speed of the electroemagnets is so 'much lesslthan the speed ct the water orfthe material that a -suiiicient agitation lresults and that thei-"eb'y `the "sand is maintained rin suspension -Whil'eitis 'passe ing-the'machine.-V 'c I'have found in'practice'th'at it is not' alwaysr necessary lto move' the 'sandlthrough the iiume'by means of alstr'eam of water,for the reason that 'under "certain conditions the material may be mo'ved by gravity "down through the inclined slui'ce, iiume, or trough, on which themachine ismounted,l andthe electromagnets vE will lSinthis instance; also serve" to attract fthe k'iron sand andto collect itv from Vthenioving materiall very satisfafctcrily. 1

Thus, it will be 'observedthat in order to vbiacl; sand'trfom ores, I provide a 'means in the -forni ot "thoroughly eiicien't device which operates continuously without manual attention, `for collecting and removingthe valuable minerals from the ores and tor dis,-

charging the "minerals Withoutl 'appreciable `loss=-1n"\/'olume. am, theretore,jenabled lto 'commercially Acollect at a proiitfsuch val uable minerals as are'present in the black sand and, consequently, my ,method has a decided advantage over ythe methods here# totore known inthe art.

It should be `understood thatrthe :form ot' the electro-magnets E is innnaterialtomyin- .vention, since the magnets may be made to coniormvto the flume or other passage in ,which vthey are used, vand Ifcon'ceive r it to be possible to turthermodity .or .change my invention within the :scope of1 :tithe 'appende'd iso claims Without vdeparting from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

l. A method of separating magnetic materials from non-magnetic materials, the method consisting in arranging a series of electro-magnets so that the magnets are alternately in a substantially horizontal position and alternately in a substantially vertical position; moving a mixed volume of the materials in a passage; causing the magnets to be energized and, Whileenergized, to move through the mixed volume of materials so that some portions of the magnetic materials Will be collected by the horizontally disposed magnets, While other portions of the magnetic materials Will be collected by the vertically disposed magnets; continuing the movement of the electro-magnets out of the passage; and causing the magnets to be Cle-energized during a period of their travel out of the passage, thereby effecting the discharge of the collected magnetic materials from the magnets.

2. A method of separating magnetic materials from non-magnetic materials, the method consisting in arranging a series of electro-magnets so that the magnets are alternately in a substantially horizontal position and alternatelyin a substantially vertical position moving a mixed volume of the materials and a' volume of liquid in a passage so that, While some portions of the materials are at or near to the'bottom of the passage, other portions-of the materials are held in suspension lin the liquid; causing the magnets to be energized and, While energized, to move through the mixed volumes of the materials and the liquid so that such portions of the magnetic materials as are at or near to the'bottom kof the passage Will be collected mainly by the horizontally disposed magnets, While such portions of the magnetic materials as are held in suspension in the liquid Will be collected mainly by the vertically disposed magnets; continuing the movement of the electro-magnets out of the passage; and causing the magnets to be de-energized during a period of their travel out ofthe passage, thereby effecting lthe discharge of the collected materials from the magnets.

3. A machine ofthe charactery described, comprising a conveyor adapted to be mounted so as to move longitudinally of a passage through which a mixed volume of magnetic materials 'and non-magnetic materials is caused to travel; means for movingthe conveyor; a. series of electro-magnets mounted on the yconveyor 'so as to be pendent therefrom and, during a period of the movement of the conveyor, to travel through the passage; and means connecting the magnets in circuit With a source of electric energy so as to close the circuit in order to energize the magnets; during the period of their travel through the passage and thereby to cause the magnetic materials to be collected by the magnets, and to open the circuit during a period when the magnets are out of the passage in order to de-energize the magnets and thereby to cause the collected materials to be discharged from the magnets, Which are arranged alternately in a substantially horizontal position and alternately in a substantially vertical position, so that some portions of the magnetic materials Will be collected by theV horizontally disposed magnets, While other portions of the magnetic materials Will be collected by the vertically disposed magnets.

4. A machine of the character described, comprising a conveyor adapted to be mounted so as to move longitudinally of a passage, through which a mixed volume of magnetic materials and non-magnetic materials and a volume of liquid are caused to travel, so that, While some portions of the materials are at or near to the bottom of the passage, other portions `of the materials are held in suspension in the liquid means for moving the conveyor; electro-magnets mounted on the conveyor so as to be pendent therefrom and, during a period of the movement of the conveyor; to travel through the passage; and means connecting the magnets in circuit With a source of electric energy so as to close the circuit in order to energize the magnets during the period of their travel through the passage and thereby to cause the magnetic materials to be collected by the magnets, and to open the circuit during a period When the magnets are out of the passage in order to de-energize the magnets and thereby to cause the collected materials to be discharged from the magnets, which are arranged in groups,

. so that the magnets in each group are at an angle to the other group magnets and that such portions of the magnetic materials as are at or near to the bottom of the passage will be collected mainly by the magnets in one group, While such portions of the magnetic materials as are held in suspension in the liquid Will be collected mainlyv by the other group magnets.

5. A machine of the character described, comprising a conveyor adapted to be mounted so as to move longitudinally of a passage, through Which a mixed volume of magnetic materials and non-magnetic materials and a volume of liquid are caused to travel, so that, While some portions of the materials are at or near to the bottom of the passage, other portions of the materials are held in suspension in the liquid; means for moving the conveyor; electro-magnets mounted on the conveyor so as to be pendent therefrom and, during a period of the movement of the circuit in order yto energize the magnets during the period of their travel throughv the passage and thereby to cause the magnetic materials to be collected by the magnets, and to open the circuit during a period When the magnets areout of the passage in orderl to de-energize the magnetsand thereby to cause the collected materials to be discharged from the magnets, Which are arranged so that each magnet is at an angle to the adjacent magnets and that such portions of the magnetic materials as are at or near to the bottom of the passage Will be collected mainly by magnets arranged at one angle, While such portions of the magnetic materials as are held in suspension in the liquid Will be collected mainly by magnets arranged atanother angle. y

6. A machine of the character described,

comprising a conveyor adapted to be mount- Y ed so as to move longitudinallyv of a passage, through Which a mixed volume of magnetic materials and non-magnetic materials and a Volume of liquid are caused to travel, so that, While some portions of the materials are at or near to the bottom of the passage, other portions of the materials are held in suspension in the liquid; means for moving the conveyor; electro-magnets mounted on the conveyor so as toy be pendent therefrom and, during a period of the movement of the conveyor, to travelthrough the passage; and means connecting the magnets in circuit With a source of electric energy sov as to close the circuit in order to energize the magnets during the period of their travel throughthe passage and thereby to cause the magnetic materials to be collected by the magnets, and to open the circuit during a period When the 1., magnets are out of the passage in order to deenergize the magnets and thereby to cause the collected materials to'be discharged vfrom the magnets, which are arranged alternately in a substantially horizontal position and alf ternately ina substantially vertical position,

so that such portions of the magnetic maerials as are at or near to the bottom of the passage Will be collected mainly by the horizontally disposed magnets, While such portions of the magnetic materials as are held in suspension in the liquid Will be collected mainly by the vertically disposed magnets.

JAMES N. MCCRACKEN. 

